Go Green! Cars from coconut husks
Washington, Jan 7: Recycling helps in reducing the waste. Now the coconut husks are used for automotive interiors. Researchers at Baylor University have developed a new way to transform coconut husks into automotive interiors.
They say that it is possible to make trunk liners, floorboards and car-door interior covers using fibers from the outer husks of coconuts, replacing the synthetic polyester fibers typically used in composite materials.
"Why coconuts? That's the first thing people ask, The Washington Times quoted engineering professor Walter Bradley, who is leading the research, as saying. "We knew coconuts were abundant - about 50 billion growth a year. But 96 percent of those coconuts are grown by poor farmers, not big plantations. We wanted to figure out a way to make things better for them, to create a viable new market for them," Bradley added.
Bradley
said
that
the
farmers,
an
estimated
11
million
around
the
world,
make
about
500
dollars
a
year.
If
the
coconut
car
interiors
gain
traction,
their
incomes
would
triple,
he
added.
The
'mechanical
properties' of
coconut
fibers
are
as
good
or
better
than
synthetic
or
polyester
fibers.
They
also
are
less
expensive
and
the
stuff
of
the
greenest
dreams.
"They're better for the environment because the coconut husks would have otherwise been thrown away. Coconuts also do not burn well or emit toxic fumes, which is crucial in passing 10 safety-performance tests required for commercial applications," Bradley said.
ANI